Footprints

Wherever we go, we always leave traces behind and we might not even be aware of that at the time. It can catch us by great surprise when we notice them months or years later. It is like finding footprints in a place where you have not been for a good while and realizing they are yours.

A few weeks ago I spent a couple of days in my old dorm on my old campus with my old friends and groupmates, and I found footprints I had left there completely unconsciously. It was so good to see how happy both students and teachers were to see me back there, but the most memorable incident happened somewhere I would least expect such a thing to happen: in the canteen. On the first day of my visit I did not have lunch there, I just popped in to say hello. I had a little chat with the chef and his mother, who works as the cashier there, and I told them I would come the following day. The next day I arrived to find that my favourite meal was on the menu.

Words cannot express how I felt. You have to try what it is like. To experience such a feeling, first you have to go away from somewhere. Only by leaving a place can you get to know what it is like when you return.